whitenize

English

Etymology

whiten +‎ -ize

Verb

whitenize (third-person singular simple present whitenizes, present participle whitenizing, simple past and past participle whitenized)

1. (transitive) To adapt to the cultural norms of white people.
   • 1982, Best Sellers, volume 42, Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation, page 85:

     And most of the major characters are made into puppets to prove the thesis that America "whitenizes" blacks and converts everyone else into "freaks."

   • 2001, Kitty Krupat, Out at Work: Building a Gay-labor Alliance, page 52:

     […] the move to sanitize, whitenize, and normalize the public and visible representations of the LGBTTSQ community, as was evident in the response from national gay organizations to a right-wing ad campaign featuring "ex-gays."

Synonyms

• whitify

Related terms

• whitenization